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Over at Acme Tools, they have the Flex VCE 33 LAC 9-gallon HEPA vacuum on sale for $300. I’m not familiar with the Flex brand, although it seems to me that this vac is made by the same folks that make Milwaukee’s HEPA vac. (Both Flex and Milwaukee vacs appear to be customizations of the Nilfisk ATTIX 33.)

In comparison, the similar Milwaukee vac is ~$650!

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The Flex HEPA vac features a corded tool auto-activation receptacle, 11A motor, and both dry and wet pickup capabilities.

Update: I have been informed that on-hand inventory has sold out, and the status has been changed to “Arriving Soon!” At this time, Acme Tools is expecting a new shipment to arrive in a couple of days. They will be resupplying beyond that, presumably based on the number of backorders. “All orders at the $299.99 price will be honored.”

The Flex vacuum also seems to have a third dial, with the first two being for on/off/automatic control and variable suction power adjustment, but we’re not sure what it does and there doesn’t seem to be any documentation about it.

Replacement HEPA filters look to be available from Acme Tools and elsewhere.

I can’t help but feel there’s a catch somehow, but I can’t find any. Maybe there’s a new model coming out? Otherwise, this is a fully-featured 9-gallon HEPA-rated vac that’s currently priced at a fraction of the price of other leading HEPA-rated vacuums.

Last night, when I first spotted this vac in Acme Tools’ deal list, the price was published. As of this morning, you have to add the vacuum to your cart to see the $299.99 promo pricing. Update (6pm ET): you should now see the advertised price as soon as you visit the product page.

I’m not familiar with the Flex brand, but if I didn’t already have a Festool HEPA-rated dust extractor, I’d likely jump on this deal. It still seems “too good to be true,” but on the other side of things, supplies might be limited, or the promo pricing might only be valid for a short time. I’ll be looking to learn more, and will post an update if I discover anything.

Update: Supplies are limited. I’m also becoming increasingly convinced that this is an even better deal than I realized. Auto filter cleaning, adjustable suction power, automatic liquid level sensor, HEPA-rated filtration, and decent specs, and for only $300.

77 Comments

Flex is well known in the Auto Detailing world with random orbit and powerful orbit polishers.

Considered by many to be the best of the best.

Irony you mention Milwaukee – since they make their M18 device – Flex also markets a cordless RO polisher that on first glance you would think is the milwaukee device with some minor changes. I think somewhere I read you can use themilwaukee battery on them. Which honestly would have been a great tie in.

Sort of wish there was a cordless dewalt version of the Porter Cable buffer/sander that is also well regarded (and I own). Not that the cord bothers me that much.

They do make grinders that I know of – not sure what else. As far as I know they are German based. I’ve sort of always thought they were an arm of Fein or something along those lines.

Regardless – great deal it seems and I suspect if like their other products it works pretty well. I’d not buy their polisher mostly because of the shear cost of it over how often I use it. but I’ve tried them before and they are great machines. There are just other products that I can get cheaper that do the same job.

I will say the equivalent flex polisher to my Porter Cable device is a better tool in the hand – it also costs over twice as much. If I used one day in and day out I might could be swayed. Sort of like buying a 200+ dollar titanium hammer.

I’ve used the Giraffe for some ceiling drywall work and was really impressed with the quality. I thought they were a German-made tool company, so I was a little surprised to see this was manufactured in the US. Maybe they’ve made some changes after the Chervon acquisition.

I’d like to know what timezone this site stamps comments in, would you please add it to your “About” page or the timestamp so I don’t forget? Haha – it would be nice to know when your update is actually posted without having to post a comment.

I have 2 dead Nilfisk , both with dead motors, repairs exceed value of units. Both were in for major repairs to the motherboard that exceeded value of vac barely making it in under warranty.
Great machine When there running disposable when there not.

I recently purchased the Metabo Hepa vac deal that was also pretty remarkable at Acme tools quite a few months back. That deal was TWO vacs for $549 plus shipping and tax, so about $300 each too.

Overall, the Metabo is a great vac for that price, but I just ordered this Flex deal as there’s a few things about the Metabo that aren’t great.

– The power socket is very underpowered – probably due the the skimpy-ass 16ga power cord the vac runs on.
– the bags are very expensive – cheapest I could find was about $40 for a 5-pack. (I think I saw the flex bags for closer to $24 a 5 pack somewhere.
– The Metabo is big and heavy. that’s ok – and it’s also a 35L vac so it’s a bit more capacity than than the Flex, but I’d rather have portability.
– The auto-tool on feature on the Metabo is only available with the self-cleaning mode, which I don’t need, as I only use the vac with bags, and it’s quite loud.
– Finally, the Metabo is not what I’d say quiet. It’s not too bad, but louder than a Festool or a Fein vac.

None of the above issues can really be found out about the Flex in their specs or info, so it’s easier to buy and try. Having sold off one of the Metabo vacs from the deal for $375, I’ve only got maybe $225 into it plus the $75 I paid for 10 bags.

If this Flex is better, I’ll sell the Metabo for a bit more than the $300 purchase price and keep on moving on…

Did a bunch of research into the Giraffe sander they’re offering for 20% off with the vac, but it wasn’t compelling enough to replace my Porter Cable unit. I’ve got one of the original USA-made PC drywall sanders that run at a much lower RPM. the new models made in China run at a ridiculously high rpm, even at the low setting.

To be fair, the power sockets are always going to be under-powered. They’re better suited for running sanders and tools like that than full-powered 15A tools. I’ve used my Festool with all kinds of tools, but for heavier duty tools and work I plug them into two outlets.

I couldn’t comment on the noise rating because it wasn’t explicitly described, but if it’s as low as the ~70 dB of the Nilfisk it resembles, that’s relatively quiet compared to many other vacuums and dust extractors.

The festool vac’s come with a 12ga cord. And Festool will tell you any of their tools can be plugged into them. Metabo’s use of a 16ga cord for a tool activated vac is just a bad call all the way around.

The product image shows “2400W” on the outlet, which would allow for heavier duty tools. Maybe there’s a setting to change it to 20A total for if/when it’s plugged into a 20A receptacle, but I don’t see mention of that anywhere. I quite frankly don’t know how they can reference 2400W in some product descriptions if it can only be used on a 15A circuit.

So, my understanding is that it’s meant for use with a 15A receptacle, and that max connected tool amperage draw is around 5A. That seems low, but it’s a limit built into a lot of vacuums like this. For heavier duty tools, that auto-activation plug can’t be used, and it’s often advisable to use the tools on two different circuits or there’s a higher risk of tripping a 15A or even 20A breaker, especially if other devices are connected to the same circuit breakers.

These were designed to work from a European wall socket rated 16A at 230V = 3680 Watts between the vac itself and the connected load. So no problem connecting a 2400W circ saw on the original.
With a 15A fuse on a 110V supply, the US version will be limited compared to the 240V models.

Thanks, it looks like there are 220-240v versions that allow either 1100w or 2400w from the appliance plug, which makes sense.

I wonder how the 600w compares to Festool and other similar vacs. My biggest regular load would be a Makita track saw. I wish they had a way you could supply a second cord from separate circuit for high powered tools. Most tools rarely run at their listed power ratings fortunately. I know frequent high power draw seems to kill a number of these autostart circuits (Fein reviews, and DGC I-Socket).

I can’t make sense of why the 44L version would be limited to 1100w? Are their different plugs in EU for 10A and 16A+ that would be on these tools? At least if the 120v hardware inside the switching circuit is mostly the same, it is designed for at least 10A at 240v. That is a big maybe at this time though.

I’ll keep an eye on this and see if Acme rolls out a decent % off coupon that works.

The Festool CT 26 user manual says that it has a max total connected load of 12A (1440W) and the max rating of a connected power tool is 3.7A. The vacuum power consumption can vary from 2.9A to 8.3A (350-1000W).

8.3A is said to be the medium value, and that a max power consumption of 10A (1200W) is possible.

There is a footnote that says that when the suction power is adjusted to its lowest value, the maximal connected power tool rating can be 9.1A.

HEPA rated doesn’t mean that it’s a real hepa vacuum. Here’s the catch that you’re trying to figure out and it went right over your head. Have you ever seen a shopvac with a suction power dial? I’ve owned several different brands of shopvacs and I’ve yet to see one with a suction power dial. Generally when I’m cleaning up debris or any kind of mess, I want full power every time. Why would I want an option that’s counterintuitive & counterproductive if I’m trying to make my mess disappear? It’s not an air purifier. I noticed that there’s not one word about the filter mentioned in the post. No MERV rating or anything about it being a sealed hepa vac. For $300 I’d expect a sealed washable hepa filter. These are generally standard for a sealed hepa vacuum cleaner. That’s why they cost what they do. There shouldn’t be an option for replacements. There’s a big difference between a hepa vacuum and a half-assed hepa like vacuum. And generally a hepa vacuum should be used for very fine particulates like sanded drywall dust or ground masonry dust and that’s really about it. These aren’t for cleaning up debris. And that includes sawdust.

No. In my experience, vacuums described as HEPA vacuums ARE HEPA vacuums. It’s when they are only described as having HEPA-rated filters that you might find that lack some of the properties of true HEPA vacs.

I am open to specific reasons why you think this isn’t a “real” HEPA vac.

When looking at air filters, vacuums, or anything with eventually replaceable parts, you want to ensure you can buy those parts. That’s why it’s important for filters to be available if needed.

As for variable suction, have you tried using a sander with a dust extractor set to full power? You will likely experience excessively high suction where the sander will stick to the work. You can improvise with special handles or accessories that can bleed some of the vacuum power to the environment, but variable suction power dials offer greater control, repeatabilty, and performance.

I won’t buy a dust extractor without variable suction. Setting the suction power to lower than its max output also lowers noise a little bit.

There’s no reason why you cannot use HEPA vacuums and dust extractors for cleanup tasks, and I sometimes do.

They describe the filtration as class L, which Nilfisk describes as “Dust representing a moderate risk – The vacuum cleaner filter traps over 99 % of dust with a grain size of under 2 microns.”

I was doing some research, but can this be hooked up to a small cyclone (like a Dust Deputy)? I’m guessing the Milwaukee bags are compatible, but just wanted to minimize bag changes (although his one seems reusable if it’s the fleece bag?)

On a side note – why would anyone “store” the hose in the tank? My vacs always have some amount of half-filled bag (or maybe no bag) but who’d want to store their hoses in a dusty dirty or cramped space like that?

Do you remember where? Because that doesn’t seem like something I’d ever have said. Who would store the hose inside their vacuum?

I see a lot of people wrapping hoses around their vacuums, or around the handles of larger vacuum carts. But not in the tank. With this one, you have clips to facilitate wrapping the hose around the tank, which is easier than having a “dock” like Festool’s, although it’s not as tidy.

I’m sorry to ask a dumb question, but I’ve never used one of these (HEPA) type of vacuums. Is this any different than a shop vac as far as it’s use? I currently have a shop vac and a Dust Deputy for woodworking. Would this be a step up? Would it replace the vacuum or the combination of vacuum and Dust Deputy? The Festool brand is a fortune so these must be much better than a shop vac for the price difference. I have a Festool orbital sander – would this turn on automatically when I run the sander? Again sorry for dumb questions but I don’t want to spend the money if I’m not seeing a big advantage. Thank you.

Generally, a shop vacuum excels at cleaning up messes, but can be used as a dust extractor, and a dust extractor excels at removing dust as it’s created through the use of tools, but can also be used for cleanup tasks.

Dust extractors are often quieter and capture more dust. Fine dust can clog shop vacuums much more easily than dust extractors. This one has a filter-cleaning method to ensure high suction throughout use.

If you plug your sander into the AC port, switch the operational mode to “auto,” and the vacuum will turn on with the sander. You can turn down the suction power if you find your sander sticking to the work material.

Your questions aren’t dumb, they’ve very typical, and great questions to ask.

I purchased a Festool CT 26 a couple of years ago, and I love it. Can you use a shop vacuum with power tools? Yes, but the experience and performance won’t be as good. Can you clean big messes with a dust extractor? Yes, but that experience won’t be as ideal, and you’ll also go through pricier filter bags quicker.

If budget and space isn’t an issue, it’s good to have both. I used my shop vacuum to clean up water from the basement after a small flood. But it’d be a big pain to use with my power tools that have dust collection ports.

I bought my Festool as part of a track saw and vacuum bundle, and with a few tools in my long-term shopping list. It works wonderfully with my sander, and I have used it (and another vac sample) with a sample router and sample Domino machine. I also use it with miter saws and portable table saws.

I find the Flex deal to be extremely tempting. You get great specs, all the features I’d consider must-haves, and it looks like different collection bag options are easily available, as are replacement filters.

I do like things about my Festool vac, but if I had to make the decision right now, the price of this Flex might be too tempting to pass up.

Festool tools have a 30-day money-back guarantee (excluding shipping/freight), which helps ease concerns related to “what id I don’t like it or see any advantages?” But at the moment, the Flex vac is less than half the price of Festool CT vacs.

Since you already have a Dust Deputy, you could use something like this both ways, with and without a cyclone. Having a cyclone does improve some aspects of using a shop vacuum with tools. And you can also improvise automatic modes by use of 3rd party relays or other accessories. Using a cyclone with a dust extractor can help lower how often you have to buy replacement filter bags. There are reusable filter bags, but they’re often pricey.

Wow – what a great reply. Thank you for taking the time to do so – much appreciated. So it seems it would server a different purpose (or at least a better purpose) to have this. I could always us this for my power tools and keep my shop vac and dust deputy attached to my table saw. Right now I’m lugging the vac/deputy around the shop to where I need it. To top it off – I don’t have a cart built for it yet so I’m lugging 2 components around. Less than ideal but it works. Thanks for the feedback – I may jut jump on this deal! Regards and thanks again. John

Run don’t walk to this deal. These hepa tool activated vac’s are simply just higher quality, variable speed quieter and better filtering shop vac’s. If their raw power is slightly less – who cares? The job will still get done. And keep in mind the cfm ratings might be throttled by the smaller hoses, but you can put any hose on it for general cleanup, even old Craftsman hoses. In general, they’re simply a pleasure to use and easier to transport and not nearly as rude to your clients in terms of noise.

And at less than half than a festool, there is no advantage anymore. The slight water lift or cfm or case stack ability benefits between this flex (or the previous Metabo deal) are pretty much washed away by the super low price combined with the premium quality.

Never heard of the brand, though the machine sounds good. Is this a new brand and they are trying to generate credibility with reviews, etc? Perhaps they are trying to sell the drywall sander and add the vac to sweeten the price of that.

One of the advantages of some of the Festool dust extractors is their compact size. This one is, according to the Amazon listed dimensions, 22″ high, 15″ wide, 26″ long. If it were more compact I’d be tempted. The Metabo was pretty big, too. This probably doesn’t matter to most people, but to me it is a key consideration.

They might have overstocked. When the new silica rules went into effect last year, every brand thought there would be a huge surge of interest. So, maybe there’s a surplus. Or maybe they’re trying to drive awareness. I’ve seen some too good to be pricing on a new of corded and cordless power tools in the past year.

While I wasn’t familiar with this brand before, I sure am now, and I’m also still contemplating getting in on the deal myself.

I already got mine. Super impressed with how fast they got it out. Now i just have to get home. 🙂 hopefully i can at least report the noise and get hooked up to my miter saw or something. Using a shopvac right now.

Just ordered.
I can’t tell if this comes with ANY accessories. Maybe a hose. No attachments or wands I guess. Maybe one HEPA filter and one bag? I ordered a 5 pack of bags to take advantage of the shipping and I’m thinking I’ll use other brand attachments etc. Any tips? Can anyone confirm exactly what it ships with?

As mentioned right at the top this is a Nilfisk Attix 33 branded up for flex who are a reputable if specialist company.
It has metal swivel castors which are more durabe that the plastic ones fitted to the yellow version they make for Mirka.
The Attix 33 and it’s big brother the 44 are top end extractors that compete directly with Festool. They are available as a standard (European L class), M class (for silica dust) and can have an additional HEPA filter cartridge fitted.
Antistatic hoses are generally bundled (red ones) and the auto filter clean option is an advanced design. The long life filter is PTFE coated for durability and fleece bags available for dust control.
I chose an attix 44 in preference to festool and use it with a festool tracksaw and a Metabo orbital sander as well as for general cleaning.
The top spec attix has a selector for continuous run vs slaved to the power outlet. It has auto filter clean on or off in either mode.
It has a suction control.
It has dial to enter the diameter of the hose. Airflow is then monitored and if airflow drops below what is considered right for that hose size, an audible alarm beeps / LED flashes to warn you to dial it up or clean something out.
Systainers and Bosch L boxes clip on top via an optional top platform.

Forgive my ignorance, as i am in no way qualified to review this thing. I’m not even a home gomer yet. I have a shop vac and some cordless/corded power tools. That’s it. But I read the site daily and sprung on the deal since eventually I’d like to be a hobbyist and make it a second income if i can get some experience.

Anyway, it comes with an adaptor of some sort to connect to smaller ports, i think. It also has a very nice red hose, two bags, one plastic and one fabric, and the filter of course.

Are the Attix 33 and Flex vce 33 the same machine? do they have the same motor and internals? Will they have the same performance specs? You seem pretty high on the Attix. I got in on the flex deal only because I don’t want to pay $700 for a Festool vac but I still want something that is comparable in performance to a Festool. There was a review done by Tool Box Buzz and the Milwaukee clone of the Flex vce didn’t do nearly as well as the Festool (granted some of the testing was purely subjective) Im curious on your thoughts about how the FLEX directly compares to Festool CT vac performance wise

The Aero 26 (and the Metabo looks like that model) are different.
They share some of Nilfisk’s house styling but they are a different machine. The Aero is budget line, The Attix a professional model.
Note the primary filter of the Aero is a pleated canister inside the drum.
In the Attix, the main filter is a flat pleated item fitted into a hatch in the back of the top housing. When Attix machines are upgraded to H class, a small pleated HEPA filter is added in an orange plastic housing that sticks down into the drum where the main filter sits in the Aero.
There’s also a difference between the push to clean on the Aero and the automatic “Infiniclean” system on the higher specc’d Attix vacs.

@alick, you seem very knowledgeable about the different brands and versions of this style of Vac. I think what we all want to know here is how this particular Vac (FLEX VCE) compares to a Festool CT and where you would place it in the over a hierarchy of this manufacturers models. IE Nilfix, Flex, Aero, Metabo, Milwaukee

I’m hoping someone who purchased this reads my post … I received mine but when I turn it on, it lets out a pretty odd / concerning “ka-chunk, ka-chunk” sound (two sounds) from the filter lid. Should I be concerned this is a defective unit? It does it at low and high speeds.

It is also intermittent, but always two sounds. It is fairly “violent” as it shakes the entire unit and it comes from the rear lid where the filter is. I’m kinda sorry I already purchased it now … I think it’s defective out of the box. I emailed Acme to see what options I have now.

Flex vce 33 ac arrived today. For what it’s worth, the CoC is listed as: “Certificate of Compliance for Nilfisk” and the description is: “nilfisk hepa filter cartridge”. It appears to be an attix 33, branded for flex. I’ve used the Alto extensively and love it, but this looks to be quite a step up. It comes with an antistatic hose that reminds me of the festool. At this point the 300 dollars would seem well spent.

It’s great reading these positive posts on the Vaccum. Makes me feel good about my purchase! I still don’t have mine yet but it has been shipped. I watched the shoot out on dust vacs by the concord carpenter and have to admit, I’ve been worried how this vac will perform since the Milwaukee clone did so Meh! ( middle of the road I guess) It’s great to see the comparisons to the Attix 33 since that’s a top-notch vac. What I have been sorely missing is any comparisons between this Vac and a Festool. guess Ill have to wait until I receive mine 🙂

Did not buy when this was posted, but still interested in these units.
Hoping to hear some reviews.
The bigger one has the automatic filter cleaning, right?
I’m on the fence between a small workshop dust collector vac with 4” hose and a mobile unit like this, for intermittent woodworking needs in a small space. And, perhaps this could stand in for my bulkier ridgid shop vac for small things inside the house.